A British Airways passenger was refused a refund for a cancelled flight even after she despatched screenshots of the airline’s web site exhibiting the choice of a voucher was not talked about.
Lesley Anderson says a voucher was issued “routinely” after she chosen “Cancel and refund flight”.
She is the newest particular person to accuse the airline of deceptive its prospects.
British Airways has stated there may be “no method” that vouchers might be issued with out prospects requesting them.
Ms Anderson, from Irvine in Ayrshire, had been attributable to fly from Glasgow to London to have fun her birthday, however disruption brought on by the coronavirus pandemic meant her flights have been cancelled.
An e-mail from BA included a hyperlink that took her to the “Handle my reserving” part of its web site, the place she was offered with two essential choices: to rebook the cancelled flights “freed from cost” or to get a “full refund” by cancelling the whole reserving.
‘Gobsmacked’
“I clearly selected the ‘Cancel and refund flights’ possibility,” she says, “which then took me to the British Airways webpage that stated, ‘Thanks for finishing your journey voucher utility.’ I used to be a bit gobsmacked.”
“I undoubtedly didn’t fill in any details about my identify, my flights. I didn’t click on submit, nothing like that in any respect. It simply took me straight to that web page and it issued me routinely with a voucher.”
Despite the fact that Ms Anderson despatched screenshots of the webpage exhibiting that vouchers weren’t listed as an possibility and stated she at all times needed her a refund, BA workers informed her she had accepted vouchers they usually couldn’t be exchanged for money.
Refund rights
Below EU regulation, when a flight is cancelled, passengers are entitled to their a refund inside seven days, though airways can supply to rebook flights or problem vouchers for future journey, if that’s what a buyer prefers.
In Lesley’s case, BA says that she crammed in an utility kind and it isn’t attainable for its on-line system to problem vouchers with out that taking place.
However quite a few passengers have contacted Radio 4’s client programme, You & Yours, with similar tales of receiving vouchers which they did not want.
The airline has stated it can “at all times present a refund if a buyer is eligible”.
“Since March, now we have supplied greater than 2.1 million prospects with money refunds and greater than 1.6 million with vouchers,” BA stated in a press release.
“Clients can request vouchers by way of our name centre, or by filling in particulars on a web-based vouchers kind, and in every case, they’re requested to verify this earlier than it’s submitted.”